Take Action, Americans Say

GARY STEIN

June 19, 1985|By Gary Stein, Staff writer

Maybe it is patriotism, maybe it is the Rambo craze that has infatuated a big part of the nation, or maybe it is just a feeling of frustration and anger.

Whatever the reason -- and this is just man-on-the-street-type conversation -- I get the impression a lot of people want the United States to take a firmer stance in dealing with the present hostage situation in Lebanon.

I had a conversation Tuesday with a friend who is a CPA and not what I would consider a knee-jerk type of person. The situation with the hijacked TWA airliner had him furious.

``You have to show `em that you don`t mess with the United States,`` he said.

``I want John Wayne back. That`s the only reason people voted for Ronald Reagan (in 1980). They weren`t voting for Reagan . . . they were voting against Jimmy Carter.

``It`s a matter of growing frustration. You must get people to respect the United States again.

``People want results now. They don`t want negotiations that are going to drag on for a year. People don`t want Ted Koppel to be going on the air every night telling us how America is being held hostage.

``Unless this is resolved in some dramatic way to show that you don`t mess with the United States, it`s going to happen again. (Terrorists) will grab Americans in Mexico, or wherever, because they`ll realize they can be an easy target.``

My friend`s idea is for the United States to take over control of the 700 Shiite prisoners being held by Israel.

``The United States has absolutely no leverage in this thing,`` he said. ``That`s the problem.

``Take the (prisoners) from Israel,`` he said. ``That will make it the United States vs. whoever.

``Then there should be a very specific plan (by the United States). They should tell the terrorists that, after 24 hours (if the American hostages aren`t released), we`re going to do this. After 48 hours, we`ll do this.

``And after 72 hours, if we don`t have our hostages back, we tell them we`re going to find a town over there (in Lebanon) where we don`t believe any American hostages are being held, and we`ll shell that town. We`d get the hostages back.``

Over at MacCarthy`s Fruit Shippers and newsstand on Las Olas Blvd., which is always a good place to discuss and solve the problems of the world, owner Roni Terranova said that almost everybody who stops by is talking about the hostage situation.

Some people, she said, talk about retaliation. Another customer had an idea that wasn`t intended totally tongue-in-cheek, even if that`s how it sounds.

``He wanted to get 700 of our people to dress up like Shiites,`` she said, ``get exchanged (for the American hostages), and then underneath their robes (they`d have weapons). Just like the Trojan Horse.

``We`re Americans. Even if it wasn`t our problem with our hostages, we`d worry about it.

``We`re not raised that way (for military retaliation). Why not just go in and close all the American colleges in Beirut and places like that.``

I heard another suggestion about having a military plane hover over the prison where the 700 Shiite prisoners are being held. Everybody else would be cleared out of the area, and if any harm were to come to the American hostages while negotiations were taking place, the plane could retaliate in whatever way deemed appropriate.

``There is a line in the movie Tora! Tora! Tora!`` my CPA friend said, ``where the Japanese are talking about the United States and saying `I fear we have awoken a sleeping giant.`